Thursday, May 26, 2016

Our
series continues with another spotlight on a long-standing, devoted
Teflon™ coater and his accomplishments in the industrial coatings field.
All pioneers in the Teflon coatings industry are early adopters of the
coatings and have helped to shape the way Teflon has grown and evolved
as a reputable industrial fluoropolymer. With the pioneers' vision and
ingenuity, Teflon™ coatings continue to be regarded as the elite fluoropolymer of choice. This interview spotlights Michael Stechschulte of Endura® Coatings. Endura®
is committed to providing the most innovative, technologically
advanced, environmentally conscience, and highest qualified coating
services available today. Endura Coatings has been a leader in coating application services since 1970. With over 750 engineered coating solutions spanning 11 technology platforms, they offer the most comprehensive array of coating expertise and services available today.

Q: When was your company founded?A: Endura was founded in 1970 outside Detroit, MI.

Q:Who founded the company and why?A: Dan Crowley, Art Coleman, and Bill Vicere. With the help of DuPont, Endura was one of the original LIA’s pioneering the use and proliferation
of nickel Teflon. Endura helped identify industrial applications and
uses for Teflon industrial fluoropolymer division.

Q: What was the first significant piece of equipment you purchased?A: A curing oven in 1970 for high temperature bakes.

Q: How would you describe the changes in the company now from when it was first started?A: What
makes Endura different today is our ability to be “consultative
engineers.” We are committed to understanding our customers' needs using
our KBER (Knowledge Based Engineering Repositories). In doing so, we
are able to identify horizontals and verticals, industries and
applications, all while documenting what coatings work and in what
situations. We are also positioned to advise our customers on the latest
raw materials, manufacturing processes, and specifications. We pride
ourselves in our ability to modify coatings to meet the customers'
needs. Whether it’s through working with Chemours or modifying the
resins ourselves using certain reinforcements and formulations, we
strive to give our customers exactly what they need.

Q: What would you consider significant milestones in your company?A: We
made a significant shift in our business in 2001. It happened to be
after 9/11 when many industries were going through financial turmoil.
Given everything happening in the U.S., we took a larger, global view of
how we were doing business and how we were going to be less reliant on
the Detroit industry, specifically automotive. The decision
was made to become a more multi-faceted organization. We made
significant investments into medical, pharmaceutical,
surgical/disposables, food packaging, and many other specialty niche
applications, where we could be written into the specification. When one
of our coatings is specified in a drawing, we would have long-term
commitments. We tweaked the other part of the business, which was the value added coating business. Our focus shifted to providing products and product solutions.

Q: How has the coating industry itself changed over time?A: Clearly
government regulation comes to mind as well as the reduction of the
PFOAs. Reformulations of our resins have forced us to reevaluate our
coating chemistries, formulations, and customer use applications. We
continually grow, learn, and understand the reach and depth of these
changes as they occur.

Q: When did you get your LIA license?A: 1970/1971. Unfortunately, the official recognition plaque has been lost over the years.

Q: How has being an LIA affected your company?A: It
shows that our company has been a long-term customer of Chemours. We
have become a steward of growth for the organization. It is clearly an
opportunity for us to do cross branding and cross e-marketing. We would
like to do more to leverage the LIA program and Teflon brand.

Q: What is your favorite Teflon coating?A: Our
favorite Teflon coating system would have to be the Tefzel system. This
coating system possesses an exceptional range of performance
characteristics which make its use extremely versatile across a wide
range of applications and industry niches. Its combination of
non-stick, mechanical toughness, and chemical inertness make it a
great candidate for use in food processing, food packaging, and chemical
processing use environments.

Q: What excites you about the future of the coating industry?A:The
future entails continually increasing customer satisfaction by creating
widely specified products using Teflon finishes. System integration is
the future for the coating industry; being able to provide not only
value, but product solutions for customers is what I’m most excited for!